The post-truth debate

One offshoot of the Brexit aftermath that is particularly disturbing is a growing obsession with the “post-truth” society.

This has allegedly sprung into being because politicians who made stuff up polled well in the EU referendum and, in Michael Gove’s catchy line, “people in this country have had enough of experts”.

This assertion has put politicians and the research community on the defensive. It expressed the feeling of being cut adrift by the electorate, which surged through government, the civil service and professional bodies following the referendum result. It has now spiralled into a debate about how to better appeal to “post-truth” citizens, as though they are baffling and lack reason. In fact those citizens could say the same of the discussions about immigration, public spending and why we were having a referendum in the first place, all of which the politicians did not confront…